Egypt in flux: will aid change with it?

As thousands of Egyptians take to the streets of Cairo to protest in frustration at Mubarak’s 30 year-long presidency calling for a shift to genuine democracy, and debate rages around flows of aid to the country, we have taken a look at the picture of Egypt and aid. Our factsheet looks at how much has been spent on official development assistance (ODA) to Egypt, who are the major donors, through which channels does the money pass, what is it spent on and US aid to the country.

1995 saw the level of net ODA to Egypt at more than US$2.4 billion, but since that point the figure has declined to US$800 million in 2009, during which time the country has continued to repay significant loans to donor countries, to the tune of US$700 million a year. The country ranked 31st out of 183 in 2009 in terms of levels of development aid received but over ten years it has received more than US$22 billion, the 11th largest recipient of aid of all countries.

Looking at who the top donors to the country have been, the view is fairly straight forward – the United States has taken the lead repeatedly, with the European Union and Germany following on. Hence, the flurry of debate around whether the US will cut its foreign aid to the country would appear to have significant implications. Yet is aid to Egypt really that important? Does it account for such a high level of inward investment? Or is it military aid that is key?

As this critical situation evolves, we will be interested to see if and how Egypt’s relationship with aid will evolve with it.